David C. Farmer, Trustee vs. Harmon

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

NANCY GRAHAM

Address to be determined.

Nancy Graham is the former Mayor of West Palm Beach, Florida, and division president of the Palm Beach Division of Watermark Communities Inc.

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November 8, 2007

WCI swings to $70 mln loss

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Residential builder WCI Communities Inc. (WCI) before Thursday's opening bell reported a third-quarter loss of $69.7 million, or $1.66 a share, compared with net income of $10.7 million, or 25 cents a share, the previous year. Quarterly revenue dropped 61% to $166 million, the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based company said....

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As of close of business on September 29, 2006, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers combined with BlackRock Inc.'s investment management business. Merrill Lynch is a substantial stockholder in BlackRock, Inc.

http://askmerrill.ml.com/index_TMHOM.asp?cpao=TMHOM

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February 2, 2007

Grand jury: West Palm seen as ‘pay-to-play’ city

By Post Staff

A state grand jury declared developers and businesses “perceive that West Palm Beach is in fact a ‘pay to play’ city” in its long-awaited report on how business in done in West Palm Beach.

In response, developers contribute large sums of money to the campaign of Mayor Lois Frankel, often at times “significant to approval of or consideration of projects or matters before various boards and the city commission.”

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Comments

By REAL POLITIK

February 15, 2007 07:06 PM

PAY TO PLAY?

I WOULD LOVE TO PAY TO SEE A LYNCHING OF THESE POLITICAL LOWLIFES….

CAN WE PLEASE GIVE THEM A MUSSOLINI-TYPE TRIAL??

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By Mr. Anybody

February 14, 2007 01:28 PM

well, FEDS: look into her own playhouse. why do her staff leave? what do they hide? check with the auditor who looks the other way - what’s he hiding? Does he have a gamblng/drinking/drug problem too? FEDs: need to audit the auditor in city/county as well! they all slepp togeth…

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By tommiej

February 10, 2007 12:53 PM

THE FEDERAL GRAND JURY AND DEPT. OF JUSTICE NEED TO PROSECUTE ALL OF THESE SCUMBAGS UNDER THE RICO ACT, TAKE ALL OF THEIR ASSETS AND SEND THEM TO PRISON FOR MANY MANY YEARS, PLEASE NO MORE “PLEA DEALS” !!!

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By stevek

February 8, 2007 10:41 PM

THE GRAND JURY NEEDS TO PUT AWAY ALL OF THESE PEOPLE UNDER THE RICO ACT OR THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE NEEDS TO PROSECUTE THE GRAND JURY ‘CAUSE IT WILL BE OBVIOUS THAT BARRY KIRSCHNER TOO IS BOUGHT AND PAID FOR AND IF SO, HE NEEDS TO GO DOWN TOO !!! THIS IS A TOTAL NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT !!! ALSO, NOW BROWARD COMMISSIONERS ARE CAUGHT DOING THE SAME, SO. FLORIDA IS A CESSPOOL AND IT WILL BE NO SURPRISE WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE HERE !!!

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By JIm

February 8, 2007 09:35 PM

It’s obvious that Frankel is in on the pay to play deal. She ignores citizens concerns. The Grand Jury is needed.

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By Bobby Mac

February 8, 2007 08:38 PM

It’s a start! They need to investigate all local and county government officials. Put the crooks in Jail!!!

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By stevek

February 8, 2007 07:56 PM

IT’S ABOUT TIME, YES THIS IS NECESSARY TO BRING DOWN THESE SCUMBAGS UNDER THE RICO ACT !!!

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By bobbiez

February 5, 2007 07:34 PM

WHY HAVEN’T THE FEDS GRABBED UP IMOGENE ISAACS, THE INTERNAL AUDITOR FOR THE CITY WHO REPORTS TO FRANKEL SINCE SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING AND FAILED TO FILE ANNUAL REPORTS, DID FRANKEL TELL HER TO COOK THE BOOKS AND WHY DIDN’T SHE REPORT ALL TO THE FEDS? FEDS; GO GRAB HER UP !!!

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By CAPTAIN KIRK

February 5, 2007 11:56 AM

Every time I see the ugly mugs of FRANKEL and NANCY GRAHAM in the papers or media causes a revolting unsuppressible vomit in my stomach to rise.

To see their mugs on a booking blotter would be like Russian cavier, Cabernet Sauvignon, and crackers.

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By Bertha

February 3, 2007 11:30 PM

Did anyone contact the Florida and Ohio Bar Association to report the Mckenna’s and other lawyers involved. Let the Bar dig a little and watch more of the maggots come to life.

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By stevek

February 3, 2007 09:45 PM

THIS IS A CRIME UNDER THE RICO ACT AND IF THE GRAND JURY CAN’T SEE IT THEN THEY TOO ARE CO-CONSPIRATORS WHO THE FBI, IRS, CIA AND THE US ATTYS’ OFFICE NEEDS TO HANG ‘EM HIGH AND SHOW NO MERCY,GET GRAHAM AND REALTED GROUP TOO, KEEP DIGGING AND YOU’LL STRIKE GOLD, GET THEIR OFF-SHORE BANK ACCTS TOO !!!

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By Doesn't Pass Sniff Test

February 3, 2007 04:51 PM

Seems to me that paying to play is just a backdoor form of bribery. Where I’m from bribery is illegal and I think these developers should be investigated immediately. People seem to forget (or simply didn’t make the connection) but this all started with CityPlace and its developer The Related Group. Former mayor Nancy Graham and her husband became partners on a large condo project in Lantana with Related soon after she left office. Talk about “Pay to Play”!!!

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By Swiss Bank Accounts?

February 3, 2007 03:53 PM

I think Nancy Graham actually worked for Related Group in San Diego now…..if anyone thinks these 5k or 10K donations to Frankelsteens campaigns are what is making the difference, they are just diversions….you can bet the real money changing hands is much better hidden, in Nassau, Caymans, Switzerland…etc….I hope the Federal Investigators keep digging an rat these crooks out.

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By Leveler

February 3, 2007 03:42 PM

If this is happening at the local level, just imagine what is happening at the state level and do not even think about the federal level of government.

Get out and vote.

Unfortunately, both candidates are losers.

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By Golden Rule

February 3, 2007 03:38 PM

Isn’t paying to play a form of bribery? Last I checked bribery was illegal and I think the developers but especially the largest of them, The Related Group, should be investigated immediately.

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By The Golden Rule

February 3, 2007 03:21 PM |

The Related Group is by far the biggest developer in this city and has the most gold to hand out to gain variances & approvals for their projects. This all started with CityPlace when Mayor Graham was not only wined and dined by Related but after leaving after office she was quickly rewarded when they made her and her husbanb partners on a real estate project in Lantana. Talk about pay to play!!! This back door form of bribery is illegal and Related’s tactics should be investigated immediately

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By stevek

February 3, 2007 01:53 PM

ALL I CAN SAY IS THIS IS A CONSPIRACY AND ALL ATTYS. LUBIN, BOOSE AND MC KENNA AS WELL AS THE WHOLE CITY AND COUNTY COMMISSION SHOULD GET TO PRISON AND LOSE ALL ILL GOTTEN GAINS ! IF THE FEDS, GRAND JURY LET THESE BUMS GET AWAY WITH THIS THEN THEY TOO ARE SELLOUTS. IF I PULLED WHAT THEY HAVE, I’D BE IN PRISON. CORRUPTION GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE GRAND JURY !!!

WAKE THE HELL UP !!!

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July 3, 2004

Lawsuit claims WCI
misled its investors

Fired executive Robert Hanna says the
development company manipulated financial data.

By SCOTT BARANCIK

A whistleblower lawsuit filed this week against Al Hoffman Jr. and other top executives at WCI Communities Inc. accuses the Bonita Springs company of misleading investors about its financial performance.

In a suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, former executive Robert Hanna alleges he was fired in October for complaining that WCI, builder of communities such as Sun City Center and Plant City's Walden Lake, inflated its 2003 earnings forecasts and then used accounting tricks to reach them.

WCI denied the allegations made by Hanna, who served as president of the company's Palm Beach County homebuilding division.

Company spokesman Ken Plonski said Friday that Hanna was fired because of customer complaints about construction quality and other problems, not in retaliation for allegations of fraud that Plonski called "meritless." Plonski also said the U.S. Department of Labor recently dismissed a related administrative complaint Hanna filed against WCI.

Now senior vice president of operations at Ecclestone Signature Homes of West Palm Beach, Hanna, 47, is seeking lost pay and damages both under Florida's Whistleblower Law and the retaliatory portion of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley law of 2002. To succeed, said his lawyer, Jim Beasley of West Palm Beach, Hanna must prove that WCI fired him at least in part for citing concerns about allegedly illegal corporate practices.

The lawsuit alleges that top WCI executives began manipulating financial data shortly after the company went public in March 2002.

"The obvious motivation for WCI's manipulation of its business plan and false reporting of profit sources was to conceal the company's poor performance relative to other companies in the industry, excessive compensation being paid to senior executives (such as Hoffman), and to increase the value of the stock options and stock grants that WCI's senior executives had received," the lawsuit says.

Hanna, a Boca Raton resident and registered Republican, also accuses founder and chief executive Hoffman of pressuring him to make contributions to Republican political coffers, solicit donations from WCI contractors, and favor Republican donors when awarding contracts, Beasley said. Hoffman, 70, is finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and a top party fundraiser with close ties to the Bush family.

Plonski scoffed at the allegations of political pressure.

"I can tell you, for one, I am on the executive management team at WCI, and have never once been approached by Al Hoffman to contribute to a particular campaign personally," Plonski said.

Hanna alleges that WCI president Jerry Starkey surprised him and other division presidents in late 2002 by unilaterally raising their 2003 home-sale projections to unrealistic levels. Though Hanna and his boss had agreed upon a goal of selling 275 units at the 1,000-unit Evergrene community in Palm Beach County, Hanna says, Starkey raised the target to 340 units over Hanna's objections.

Former colleague Armando Goenaga corroborated some of Hanna's accounting allegations in an internal memo attached to the lawsuit. Goenaga wrote, "The concern ... is that no consideration was given to market conditions, timing of product development, sales trends, timing of entitlements, permits approvals, timing of development, etc."

To cover inevitable shortfalls, Hanna alleges, WCI would reclassify developable land as "non-strategic" and then sell it right before the end of a given accounting period. WCI also allegedly moved funds from profitable divisions to unprofitable ones to make the latter appear financially healthy. Hanna says WCI's 2004 financial projections contain similarly arbitrary sales projections.

After WCI appointed an internal auditor in 2003, Hanna allegedly shared his concerns and suggested the auditor pass them on to the chairman of WCI's audit committee. Weeks later, WCI executives fired him. The parties could not agree on a severance package, and Plonski called Hanna's counteroffer "outrageous." Hanna sued.

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham, a Republican and Hanna's predecessor as president of the Palm Beach County homebuilding division at WCI, told the Palm Beach Post on Thursday that Hanna had "incredible integrity."

"If I were asked to be a witness for either side," she said, "I would far more likely be helpful to Robert Hanna than I would to WCI."

Investors appeared relatively unconcerned about the lawsuit against WCI this week. The company's stock fell 3 percent in heavy trading Thursday to close at $21.55 per share, then rose slightly in light trading Friday to close at $21.71.

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March 13, 2002 < < < Note the date

Kamehameha’s stake in
public offering of Florida
home builder hits $165 million

By Rick Daysog, Honolulu StarBulletin

The Kamehameha Schools saw the value of its holdings in WCI Communities Inc. rise to about $165.1 million today after the Florida development company completed its initial public offering yesterday.

Kamehameha Activities Association -- a for-profit subsidiary of the $6 billion charitable trust -- owns about 7.1 million shares, or about 16.4 percent, of WCI, making it the company's largest shareholder.

WCI's stock price closed at $23.25 on the New York Stock Exchange today from yesterday's offering price of $18.

The Kamehameha Schools, which initially invested in WCI with longtime partner the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1995, said it is evaluating its plans for the stock.

The company did not sell any of its shares in the IPO.

"Kamehameha Activities Association's interest in WCI Communities Inc. and its recent initial public offering is important because it allows KAA to further support Kamehameha Schools' ongoing efforts to provide more educational services to more Hawaiian children," said KAA President Wallace Chin.

"We have every confidence in WCI's current management and applaud their successful efforts to take the company public."

WCI, which traces its roots back to 1946, builds master planned residential communities and luxury condominium towers in Florida. The company, which posted revenues of $1.1 billion in 2001, has 34 communities under development.

In yesterday's public offering, WCI sold roughly 43 million shares, or about 16 percent of the company.

May 12, 2000

WCI hires environmental activist

Former West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham is taking her sense of community to a smaller scale.

Instead of focusing on the entire city of West Palm Beach, she is now focused on a mere sliver of the county -- a 363-acre community south of Donald Ross Road and east of Military Trail in the northern part of the county.

Graham is division president of the Palm Beach Division of Watermark Communities Inc. She says she is working hard to develop a sense of family and community on a tract known as Parcel 4, a 1,040-home development in Palm Beach Gardens.

Parcel 4 can expect to get a lot of public attention because it's the first residential tract WCI is developing on the 14,000 acres it acquired from the MacArthur Foundation in March 1999 for $235 million.

Construction is expected to begin later this year, Graham says, adding that Parcel 4 will take about seven years to built out....

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December 18, 2007

Investment unrelated to possible Dolphins sale, sources say

By Sarah Talalay | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The Related Companies, the New York real estate firm whose chairman and CEO is looking at buying the Dolphins, announced Monday it has received $1.4 billion from a slate of investors that includes Goldman Sachs, the investment company for Michael S. Dell and Middle Eastern interests.

The announcement comes just as word has spread of Related CEO Stephen M. Ross' interest in leading a bid for the Dolphins and Dolphin Stadium that could include Related Group founder and chairman Jorge Perez. But sources said the investment has been in the works for more than six months and is unrelated to Ross' interest in the Dolphins.

Goldman Sachs and MSD Capital, which handles the investments for the CEO of Dell Inc., bought a 7.5 percent stake in the company for about $400 million. The Mubadala Development Co., an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, The Olayan Group, of Saudi Arabia, and an unnamed international investor are investing about $1 billion in debt.

The investment is aimed at providing Related with capital to pursue future development, company officials said. Related and Miami-based Related Group developed CityPlace in West Palm Beach.

Although the transaction is said to be unrelated to Ross' interest in the Dolphins, it establishes a value for the privately held company, which could help Ross if he wanted to borrow against his equity in the firm. A Related Companies spokeswoman said the company is not commenting on Ross' interest in the Dolphins.

Owner H. Wayne Huizenga has been in talks with the developers, but said in a statement Saturday that he is not "actively looking to sell."

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Nancy Graham is expected to testify regarding her business, professional, political and personal relationships with Kamehameha Schools, Rodney Park, Wally Chin, Henry Peters, Robert Kihune, Gilbert Tam, Guido Giacometti, Nathan Aipa, Colleen Wong, Louanne Kam, Linda Lingle, Jeremy Harris, Steve Case, Thomas White, Thomas Fargo, Al Hoffman Jr., John Rowland, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, John McCain, James “Jim” Nicholson, Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove, Merrill Lynch, BlackRock Inc., MacArthur Foundation, Adele Smith Simmons, Charles Harmon, Lawrence Landry, Paul Silvester, Mark McConaghy, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, Gayle Norton, Norm Brownstein, Marsh & McLennan, Chubb Group, AIG, Prudential, The Related Group, and others to be named upon discovery.